Easy as pie: the beef, beer and mushroom favourite

Sheets of ready-made puff pastry make these pies simple. The beef one can be made ahead of time and chilled until ready to cook.

Beef, beer & mushroom pie. Picture: Craig Wall.

Sheets of ready-made puff pastry make these pies really simple. The beef one can be made ahead of time and chilled until ready to cook.

BEEF, BEER & MUSHROOM PIE

2 tablespoons olive oil

1 large brown onion, finely sliced

3 large cloves garlic, sliced

200g mushrooms, quartered

1kg chuck or blade steak

3 tablespoons plain flour

2 teaspoons paprika

400g tin chopped tomatoes

2 carrots, peeled and chopped

3 good quality anchovy fillets, in oil, finely chopped

4 sage leaves, finely chopped

1 cup beer or Guinness

2 sheets ready-made puff pastry

1 egg, beaten

Heat olive oil in a heatproof casserole dish and cook onions, garlic and mushrooms for about 10 minutes, or until softened. Cut beef into 4cm chunks. Put flour and paprika in a bowl and season well. Add beef and toss until coated. Transfer meat to the casserole. Add tomatoes, carrots, garlic, anchovies, sage and red wine and stir to mix. Cover and cook in a preheated 160°C (fan) oven for 2 hours, stirring occasionally, until the sauce has thickened slightly and the beef and carrots are tender. Season to taste. Allow to cool. Spoon the cooled beef filling into a large pie dish or ceramic dish. Cover with pastry overlapping; if desired, decorate with any remaining pastry. (At this stage, if preparing ahead, you can stop and refrigerate the pies.) When ready to cook, brush the pastry with beaten egg and bake in a preheated 180°C (fan) oven for 40-50 minutes, until golden. Serves 4

ROASTED VEG & FETA PIE

2-3 tablespoons olive oil

1 red onion, cut into 8 wedges

1 red capsicum, cut into chunks

4 stems broccolini

1 eggplant, cut into 2cm dice

1 medium zucchini, thickly sliced

1 teaspoon cumin seeds

1 clove garlic, coarsely chopped

½ cup ready-made hummus

Finely grated zest 1 lemon

2 tablespoons chopped coriander

50g feta, crumbled

3 sheets ready-made puff pastry

1 egg, beaten

1 teaspoon sesame seeds

Preheat oven to 180ºC fan. Fry onion and capsicum in olive oil for 5 minutes then add broccolini, eggplant, zucchini, cumin and garlic. Cook, stirring, for 7 minutes, then reduce heat and cover, stirring occasionally, until softened and coloured. Season. Transfer to a bowl and mix in hummus, zest, coriander and feta. Place a sheet of pastry on a tray lined with baking paper and spoon mixture onto it, leaving a 2cm border. Brush border with beaten egg. Place remaining sheets of pastry on top of each other and roll out until a little thinner. Drape over filling, press edges to seal, and trim any excess. Brush with egg, sprinkle with sesame seeds and cut 2 diagonal slits in the pastry. Bake for 25-30 minutes. Serves 2